Marc
Hunter
and his brother Todd grew up in a musical family in Taumarunui, New
Zealand. Both pursued separate musical careers until Todd invited Marc
to join his band in 1973. Dragon originally worked in a progressive
vein, and recorded two albums for Vertigo in New
Zealand, Universal Radio
(1974)
and Scented Gardens For
The Blind (1975).

They
relocated to Sydney in mid '75, with a four-piece lineup: Marc
(vocals),
Todd (bass), Robert Taylor (guitar), and Neil Storey (drums).
Determined to make a go of it, they brought keyboard player and
songwriter Paul Hewson over from NZ to complete the lineup soon after

Dragon did
it tough for a while -– they were dropped by Vertigo after
their first Aussie single flopped, and they lost most of their
equipment when then their house in Paddington was burgled. They were
slogging it out on the Sydney wine-bar circuit when they were spotted
by another NZ expat, Peter Dawkins, then the house
producer and A&R manager at CBS. He had been alerted to them by
Ariel’s Mike Rudd (also NZ-born) and Peter immediately signed
Dragon to CBS's Portrait label and produced their next single, "This
Time", which became a major hit. Aided by regular appearances
on Countdown, Sounds
and other pop shows, they rapidly
became one of the most popular and successful Australian acts of the
late '70s.

Under the
aegis of Dawkins, Dragon racked up a string of hit singles and albums
between 1976 and 1979. All members contributed, but most of the hits
were written or co-written by Paul Hewson. These included "Get
That Jive", "Sunshine", "Are You
Old Enough?" (their only national #1), "I'm
Still In Love With You" and the perennial "April Sun
in Cuba", a national #2 in early 1978 that was only kept from
the top spot by McCartney’s maudlin Xmas hit "Mull
of Kintyre". They also enjoyed huge success with their first
three albums Sunshine,
Running Free
(a platinum seller that went gold on pre-orders alone), and O!
Zambezi. Ironically, the band often clashed with Dawkins
over
his production and the ‘pop’ nature of the singles,
which they felt were at odds with their preferred directions, and at
one
stage Hewson even threatened to quit if "Are You Old Enough"
was released as a single!

On stage,
they were often brilliant, sometimes out of control, and away from the
sanitising influence of Countdown, the darker side
of the band was much more in evidence. Marc was the focal point, and he
possessed a striking stage presence –- his androgynous good
looks and imposing height (both he and Todd were well over 6 feet tall)
were matched by an utter fearlessness in front of hostile audiences
– the trait that originally convinced Todd to recruit him. Even before
their success, Dragon’s rock’n’roll
exploits were notorious, and drugs were always a significant factor -- just
before coming to Australia, their original manager Graeme Nesbitt was
jailed for drug trafficking, and only two weeks after "This
Time" was released drummer Neil Storey died of a heroin
overdose, a tragedy that almost ended the band. However they decided to
go on, and Storey was replaced by Kerry Jacobsen. At the
peak of the band’s career
Marc and Paul Hewson reputedly maintained $200-a-day heroin
habits and Dragon was mentioned in
evidence during a royal commission into drugs because of their links to
the infamous “Mr Asia” drug syndicate.

By 1978
Dragon were one of the top five acts in the country. America was the
obvious next step, CBS were behind them, and success seemed certain.
But the group blew it with a disastrous US tour in late 1978 supporting
the Johnny Winter Band. Facing hostile crowds, Marc’s
unpredictable side took over, culminating in an infamous gig in Austin,
Texas where they were pelted off the stage after Marc taunted the crowd
and declared that "all Texans are faggots", while
Winter and his band took bets from the side of the stage over who would
shoot Marc first.

Despite the
American debacle, they were still huge in Australia and they scored
another Top Ten hit in early '79, but five years of wild
living had taken its toll, especially on Marc, whose voice was
failing. With Marc’s drink and drug use spiralling
out of
control and Todd virtually the only functional member of the
band, he was forced to sack Marc in 1979 in order to
save him from himself. They replaced him with a sax player and an
electric violinist, and Dragon limped on for about nine months,
releasing one more album, Powerplay,
before splitting up.

A chastened
Marc cut back on the excess and embarked on a moderately
successful solo career in the early '80s. He scored moderate hits with
the singles "Island Nights" (1979) and "Big
City Talk" (1981), released two solo albums Fiji
Bitter (1979) and Communication
(1986), and guested with The Party Boys. Todd
meanwhile teamed up with former XL Capris singer-songwriter Joanna
Pigott to form Scribble. Todd and Joanna
subsequently married, and became a successful songwriting team, with
credits including John Farnham’s "Age Of Reason".

Dragon were
forced to do a reunion tour in the early '80s to pay off outstanding
debts, but they decided to stay together and give it one more shot.
Marc had been working with producer and multi-instrumentalist Alan
Mansfield (ex-Bette Midler, Robert Palmer) on tracks for his
second solo album, so he brought Mansfield in to produce a new single
for them called "Rain" (co-written by Marc, Todd and
Joanna). It was a Top 10 Australian hit within days of release in
1984, earned them their first American chart placing (#88) and became a
favourite on US college radio. At this point they realised
they had a second chance, so they finally cleaned house and farewelled
the bad habits of the past. This led to the departure
of both Robert Taylor (replaced by Mansfield) and Kerry Jacobsen
(replaced by former XTC drummer Terry Chambers).
The success of Rain secured them an album deal with
Polygram’s Mercury label, and the venture proved to be a huge
success, with four other charting singles lifted from
the comeback album Body
&
The Beat, produced by Mansfield.

Although all
the members had contributed to songs before, Marc and especially Todd
were now really hitting their stride as writers. Hewson found himself out of
phase with their new direction and managed only one co-writing credit
on the new album. His health was also deteriorating (he suffered from
scoliosis) and he was still using drugs heavily; he left the band just after the Body and
the Beat tour in 1985. He returned to New Zealand and joined
NZ group Pink Flamingos, but sadly he died only weeks later from a
heroin overdose.

Terry
Chambers was subsequently replaced by Doane Perry
(ex-Jethro Tull), Mansfield doubled on keys and guitar, and they
recruited rising star Tommy Emmanuel (ex-Goldrush,
Southern Star Band) as lead guitarist. This lineup recorded another
very successful album Dreams of Ordinary Men,
produced by Todd Rundgren, and they toured Europe (billed as Hunter)
with Tina Turner, to a great reception. Although they were probably at
their peak as performing unit, and they put in 100%, their sucess this time
was stalled by lack of product support from their label.

With varying
lineups, Dragon continued to record and tour occasionally into the 1990s, cutting two more albums, Bondi Road
(BMG 1989), which included the bittersweet single "Young Years"
and Incarnations (Roadshow
1995) which featured new versions of their classic hits. Todd
eventually left to concentrate on songwriting and soundtrack work, while
Marc released two more albums of ‘adult
contemporary’ material, Night and Day
and Talk To Strangers.

In
November 1997, on the eve of a 40-date Australasian tour with Dragon,
Marc was diagnosed with malignant throat cancer. Friends immediately
rallied round him and Renee Geyer organised a benefit concert to raise
money for his treatment and provide for his children. The concert,
"Night Of The Hunter," was held in February 1998 at the Palais Theatre
in St. Kilda. It featured leading artists performing classic Dragon
songs: "Are You Old Enough" by Tex Perkins and
friends, Chris Wilson singing "O Zambezi", Paul
Kelly and Renee Geyer singing a duet of "I'm Still In Love
With You", Snout performing "Rain" and Men
At Work’s Colin Hay performing a new song he wrote in Marc's
honor. The finale, "April Sun In Cuba" was performed
by John Farnham and his band, with Todd on bass. The house erupted when
Renee Geyer led Marc onstage and he joined in his signature tune for
what proved to be his very last stage appearance.

Another
benefit was staged soon after in Sydney, and the 'Good
Vibrations' concert proved to be an even more memorable
event. The performers included Glenn Shorrock, James
Reyne, Ross Wilson, Todd Hunter, Alan Mansfield, Robert Taylor and
Tommy Emmanuel, and a host of other Oz music legends -- Men At Work regrouped for the first time in a decade to perform,
and the remaining members of INXS performed live for the first time since the
tragic death of their lead singer Michael Hutchence; Peter Garrett and Jimmy Barnes
duetted on "Dreams of Ordinary Men" and "Speak
No Evil". Sadly, Marc could
not attend -- he was in Korea undergoing alternative therapy
to prepare for a major throat operation, but he sent a letter that was
read to the crowd. The concert was taped and a 2CD set was
rush-released.

Marc spent
the last months of his life with his family and friends. He died in his
sleep in hospital at Berry in the NSW southern highlands on July 17
1998, aged just 44. He is survived by his wife Wendy Heather, their two
children Isabella
and Jackson, and a son Titus, from a previous
relationship. His memorial service, held on July 29 at
Sydney’s St Andrew’s Cathedral, was attended by 700
mourners, including many stars from the music world, and musical
tributes were sung by Glenn Shorrock, Mark Williams and Wendy Matthews.